Baccarat Strategy

Some players say there's no such thing as baccarat strategy, and yet still other players believe that this just isn't true. Baccarat pros believe there's a few things you can do that will help you increase your chances of winning. The reasoning is that even if these strategies increase your chances by just a tiny bit, over the long-term it would ultimately result in you winning more hands for higher amounts.

Card counting is a tactic some baccarat players use to try to get an edge over the house. Card counting is simple to understand, and it's easy to see why players like to do it. If you know what cards have already been played, then logically you know what cards are left to be played. This is a simple common-sense outlook that a lot of baccarat players have. Players that use this strategy say they gain insight into the future of the table by keeping track of what cards have been played in previous hands. 

Yet others reason that the advantage card counting gives is tiny, at best, and isn't worth the trouble. 

What's the truth? I say try it out for yourself, experiment, and see what happens. If you see that it's working for you and is actually an effective tactic, then why wouldn't you use it anyways?

If you've played baccarat in a real-life casino you might notice players keeping track with paper and pencil. They are looking for patterns in the cards, hoping they can predict what cards will come up next. This tactic is considered merely superstition by some players, but many players still do it.

Playing baccarat online is probably your best bet, and is preferred by many for a few reasons. Mainly, you control the atmosphere around you. This is a big psychological advantage for you, especially there's no alcohol or other distractions that come with playing at a live casino. Focus 

If you hit it big early in the game, run with the winnings. If you've been playing for a while and continue losing, watch your bets. Whatever you do, keep track of your betting habits per hour of play. Above all, use common-sense.

All players agree that the best strategy is to bet big when you're on a roll , but watch your bets when things are doing so well.

Now let's try some sample hands: The player hand has queen,9 for a total of 9 and the banker hand has 4,4 for a total of 8. Which hand wins? Both hands are naturals, but the player hand total of 9 is higher than the banker hand total of 8, so the player hand is the winner.

If the player hand has 4,2 for a total of 6 and the banker hand has ace, jack which totals 1, what happens? The player hand must stand on its 6 and the banker hand must always draw when it has a total of 0,1 or 2. Let's say the bank draws a 7 and wins 7 to 6.

What happens when the player hand has king, 5 and the bank hand has 2,4? The player hand must draw and let's say it gets a 7 for a total of 2. The banker hand has a total of 6 and if it could stand on that total it would win because its 6 is higher than the 2 held by the player. Of course, if you were betting on banker that's exactly what you would want to happen but, unfortunately for you, the rules require the bank hand to draw another card whenever its first two cards total 6 and the third card drawn by the player is a 7. So now, instead of having a winning hand you have to hope that the card you draw isn't a 5, which would give you a total of 1 making you a loser. You also wouldn't want to draw a 6 because that would give you a total of 2 which would give you a tie. In this case let's say that the bank hand goes on to draw an 8 which gives it a total of 3 and it wins 3 to 2.

If the player hand has 3,ace for a total of 4 and the banker hand has 8,7 for a total of 5, what happens? The player hand must draw and say it gets a 9 for a total of 3. Once again, the banker hand would like to stand on its total because it would win, but the rules have to be consulted first and in this case when the banker's first 2 cards total 5 and the player's third card drawn is a 9 the banker hand must stand, so the banker hand wins 5 to 3.

Finally, let's say the player hand has 4,3 for a total of 7 and the banker hand has 6,10 for a total of 6. The player hand must always stand on totals of 6 or 7 and the banker hand must also stand on its total of 6 because the player hand didn't take a third card. The player hand wins this one 7 to 6.

All right, now that you know how to play Baccarat we come to the important question which is - how do you win? Well, as I said before, if you bet on player you'll only be giving the casino a 1.36% edge and if you bet on banker you'll be giving the casino an even more modest edge of just 1.17%. While both of these are pretty low edges to give the casino you're still stuck with the fact that the casino will always have an edge over you and in the long run the game of Baccarat is unbeatable. So, if that's the case then how do you win? Well, the answer to that is very simple - You have to get lucky! And that's the ONLY way you can win at Baccarat. Of course, this is easier said than done, but fortunately, in the game of Baccarat, you have the option of making two bets that require no skill and both offer the casino a very low edge especially when you compare them to roulette where the house has a 5.26% advantage on a double-zero wheel and slot machines where the edge is about 8% to 10% I always stress the point that when you gamble in a casino you have to play the games that have the lowest casino edge in order to have the best chance of winning and with that in mind you can see that Baccarat is not that bad a game to play for the recreational gambler.

Now let's take a quick look at one of the most common systems for betting on Baccarat. One thing that many Baccarat players seem to have in common is a belief in streaks and the casinos accommodate these players by providing scorecards at the table that can be used to track the results of each hand. Many players like to bet on whatever won the last hand in the belief that it will continue to come in and they hope for a long streak.

The thinking for these players is that since Baccarat is purely a guessing game it's just like guessing the outcome of a coin toss and chances are that a coin won't alternately come up heads, tails, heads, tails, heads, tails but rather that there will be streaks where the same result will come in for awhile. So, is this a good system? Well, actually, it's no better and no worse than any other system because no matter what you do you'll still have the same casino edge going against you on every bet you make: 1.36% on the player and 1.17% on the banker. The one good thing about a system like this though is that you don't have to sit there and guess what you want to play each time. Instead, you go into the game knowing how you're going to play and you don't have to blame yourself if your guess is wrong, instead you get to blame it on your system!

SUCCESS !!!!

PLAYER HAND RULES

If the player hand has a total of 6 or 7 it stands and for anything else it has to draw a card. Well, that was the easy part because now it gets a little complicated.

After the player hand is finished the banker hand must take its turn and if its first 2 cards total 0,1 or 2 it must draw a card. If its two cards total 7 it must stand and if the total is 6 it will stand, but only if the player hand did not take a card.

BANK HAND RULES

The only other possible totals the bank can have are 3,4,5 or 6 and the decision as to whether or not a 3rd card is drawn depends on the 3rd card that was drawn by the player hand.

When the banker hand has a total of 3 it must stand if the player's 3rd card was an 8 and it must draw if the player's 3rd card was any other card.

IF BANK HAS 3 and

Player's third card is 8 - BANK STANDS

Player's third card is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10 - BANK DRAWS

When the banker hand has a total of 4 it must stand if the player's 3rd card was a 1,8,9, or 10 and it must draw if the player's 3rd card was any other card.

IF BANK HAS 4 and

Player's third card is 1,8,9,10 - BANK STANDS

Player's third card is 2,3,4,5,6,7 - BANK DRAWS

When the banker hand has a total of 5 it must stand if the player's 3rd card was a 4,5,6 or 7 and it must draw if the player's 3rd card was any other card.

IF BANK HAS 5 and

Player's third card is 4,5,6,7 - BANK STANDS

Player's third card is 1,2,3,8,9,10 - BANK DRAWS

When the banker hand has a total of 6 it must stand if the player's 3rd card was a 6 or 7 and it must draw if the player's 3rd card was any other card.

IF BANK HAS 6 and

Player's third card is 6 or 7 - BANK STANDS

Player's third card is 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,10 - BANK DRAWS

There you have it - those are the rules of Baccarat concerning the draw of a third card. As you saw they were a little complicated, but remember that you don't have to memorize the rules yourself because the dealer will know them and play each hand by those rules, but you can always ask for a copy of the rules at the table to follow along.